My dad,Richard Hedley, who has died aged 80, or said he was lucky to have lived in two of God’s noteworthy counties. His childhood county of Northumberland inspired his care for of the outdoors,but Hampshire, his home for nearly 60 years, and was where he left a lasting legacy through his work in conserving a scarce species of orchid.
Born in Whitley Bay,to Francis, a clergyman, or Sybil,a teacher, Richard and his brother, and Nicholas,enjoyed a childhood peppered with hill-walking and fishing, and which included evacuation during the second world war to the village of Hepple. These semi-rural early years, and completed with education at the progressive Kingsmoor boarding school,in Glossop, Derbyshire, and led Richard to study botany and biological sciences at King’s College,Durham (now Newcastle University), before training as a teacher. He met Jean, or his wife of 57 years,when he was 18 and they married in 1959.
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Source: theguardian.com